Tina Bassir, TMMBA Associate Director
There were lots of smiles and handshakes as the Class 10 students came together last night for their first official event. The TMMBA Welcome Reception is an exciting event where students meet each other and their new study group. Study groups consist of 4 or 5 students and interactions within the study groups promote learning, build teamwork skills, and provide moral support throughout the 18 months. Students also received their course materials (and homework) for the upcoming orientation, and a Class 9 student shared his advice on preparing for classes and effectively managing time and expectations. Class 10 students and families–welcome to the TMMBA Program!
Tracy Gojdics, Director
In October I wrote a post congratulating the new class. I also promised to post names and companies. The incoming class is diverse, motivated and really excited about the journey they are about to take. Here are a few quick stats on the incoming cohort -
- # of Students 77
- Monday Section = 39
- Wednesday Section = 38
- Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, England, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Zambia and the US are all represented.
- 37 Organizations Represented (yes one of these orgs is Microsoft and one is Boeing)
- 23% advanced degrees
- Average age is 33.
- 6 Huskies and 2 Cougars
| Kathy |
Alexion |
WaMu|JPMC |
| Lateefa |
AlWaalan |
Atheeb Telecom Consortium |
| Raheleh |
Ansari |
|
| Pete |
Austin |
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation |
| Isaac |
AuYeung |
Amdocs |
| Ritu |
Bahl |
|
| Prasanna |
Balaraju |
Motorola, Inc. |
| Bill |
Barnard |
NTT America |
| David |
Betz |
The Boeing Company |
| Nenad |
Bjelogrlic |
The Boeing Company |
| Naiana |
Campos |
Microsoft Corporation |
| Bob |
Carlstrom |
PRO Sports Club |
| Kevin |
Chen |
Microsoft Corporation |
| Satyen |
Choudhury |
Amazon.com |
| Michael |
Chung |
Emerson Process Management |
| Todd |
Cota |
Callison, LLC |
| Indresh |
Datar |
The Boeing Company |
| Eran |
Dvir |
Microsoft Corporation |
| Shane |
Egeland |
CH2M HILL |
| Meave |
Ellsworth |
Tableau Software, Inc. |
| Ahmed |
Elsherbini |
The Boeing Company |
| Vasavi |
Epari |
Microsoft Corporation |
| Terry |
Etapa |
The Boeing Company |
| Angus |
Fan |
Egencia |
| Matt |
Feeney |
ZAAZ |
| Cory |
Fisher |
The Boeing Company |
| Graham |
Ford |
FreshStart Logistics |
| Ryan |
Gaukroger |
Microsoft Corporation |
| Davor |
Golac |
Microsoft Corporation |
| Carolina |
Gonzalez Chacin |
General Electric/Thermal Products |
| Krishna |
Gopalan |
Nordstrom |
| Linda |
Hapgood |
The Boeing Company |
| Branden |
Harper |
Growthink, Inc. |
| Mary |
Hofbeck |
The Boeing Company |
| Steve |
Holstein |
The Boeing Company |
| Yasser |
Ibrahim |
Microsoft Corporation |
| Akihito |
Kita |
Microsoft Corporation |
| Madhava |
Kulkarni |
The Boeing Company |
| Anand |
Kuttappan |
The Boeing Company |
| Eric |
Lai |
ComputerWorld Magazine |
| Xuan |
Le |
Honeywell |
| Cathy |
Lee |
The Boeing Company |
| Richard |
Lee |
The Boeing Company |
| Milind |
Lele |
Microsoft Corporation |
| Stephanie |
Leung |
Expedia, Inc. |
| Dan |
Liao |
|
| Sai Shankar |
Madanagopalan |
Credera |
| Nick |
Marcuse |
WatchGuard Technologies Inc |
| Subin |
Mathew |
RealNetworks, Inc. |
| Gautam |
Mehandru |
Isilon Systems, Inc. |
| Gabe |
Miller |
The Boeing Company |
| Geetu |
Mishra |
Quilogy, Inc. |
| Angie |
Moe |
Tableau Software |
| Miwa |
Monji |
Harrison Medical Center |
| Kevin |
Mueller |
Intel |
| Dilip |
Mujumdar |
The Boeing Company |
| Bryant |
Ng |
The Boeing Company |
| Dhawal |
Ogale |
Amazon.com |
| Casey |
Peay |
Eddie Bauer |
| Thiago |
Pizzirani |
Microsoft Corporation |
| Vishwa |
Ranjan |
Microsoft Corporation |
| Patrick |
Redburn |
The Boeing Company |
| Naomi |
Rosell |
Microsoft Corporation |
| Chris |
Rosenquest |
CharityUSA.com |
| Gustavo |
Rubio Escudero |
Microsoft Corporation |
| Kenyatta |
Saunders |
The Boeing Company |
| Tova |
Scherzer |
MarketTools, Inc. |
| Brian |
Shaflik |
The Boeing Company |
| Jeff |
Steiner |
Real Networks, Inc. |
| Ryan |
Tonder |
Intel Corporation |
| Eric |
Vernon |
Microsoft Corporation |
| Justin |
Wallace |
Rotella Capital Management |
| Mary Kay |
Wegner |
Renton Technical College |
| Matthias |
Wilke |
The Boeing Company |
| Flora |
Wu |
Seagull Scientific |
| Josh |
Yim |
|
| Chad |
Yin |
Beyondsoft Consulting |
Aaron Lykken, Manager – Academic Services and Technologies
Earlier this month we brought together the entire TMMBA network (alumni, current students, and incoming students) for TMMBA Speed Networking. The event is exactly how it sounds, we take TMMBA alumni/students from various professional backgrounds and randomly mix them across tables. Tables have 5-6 participants and each are allowed about 3-4 minutes to give a brief introduction of themselves and what they do. At the end of the round a bell is rung and participants rotate to another randomly assigned table, placing them with an entirely new group of professionals to interact with.
The beauty of the event is that it puts a fun spin on the old concept of networking events which typically includes beverages and snacks while you mingle across pods of people…BORING! With Speed Networking you can gracefully bow out of an unproductive conversation by literally being “saved by the bell” and most importantly it makes your conversations more efficient as you are sure to connect with practically everyone in attendance! Just like in real world interactions, you often have limited time to make that critical first impression and to convey important information to other parties.
We had strong attendance and look forward to connecting more people later in the year.
The dial-in Job Search Team call has been operational for seven months. It is a weekly call for Executive MBA and Technology Management MBA students and alumni actively engaged in job search. The initial goals were to provide a flexible format for support, ideas, and resources.
With a typical weekly group of 4-8 individuals, each participant takes a few minutes to provide a brief introduction (name, target next position and stage of search) and then has time to ask for insights on a particular search strategy, to share a quick win or new resource, and most importantly what’s working (and what’s not working).
Sometimes the facilitators will take a few minutes to share information related to search, i.e. executive recruiters/headhunters, salary considerations/surveys, social networking, Foster School events, etc.
In last week’s call, we talked about applying for positions at Microsoft (with a referral); these techniques certainly apply at other companies too. This week, the group had a rich conversation about the steps for effective informational interviews — “career development research” is probably a better name!
I will post a debrief of our next search-related topic. It might be information helpful to you now or in the future.
Mikaela Houck, Program Assistant
This holiday season, TMMBA staff and students will take a break from their hectic lives and lend a helping hand at Treehouse – a local nonprofit that provides enrichment and educa
tional services to foster children. Started in 1988, Treehouse offers unique programs that range from summer camp to college and career planning. Last years, Treehouse helped over 5,000f foster kids in the greater Seattle area.
TMMBA will focus its attention on the Wearhouse – a free store where kids shop for clothing, school supplies, and other essentials. We’ll play host to a holiday drive at the Eastside Executive Center – a friendly competition between the Monday and Wednesday sections 
. We will also volunteer onsite at the Wearhouse and sort, tag, and restock merchandise.
Stay tuned for pictures of the event!
Sara Jones, Assistant Director
There are many opportunities to enrich your educational experience beyond the classroom. This quarter, several TMMBA students are participating in two consulting opportunities through the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship: UW Tech Transfer LaunchPad Internships and the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic.
Students participating in LaunchPad Internships spend about 10 hours a week acting as consultants to UW Tech Transfer. They assess the commercial potential of UW research and help identify possible opportunities for these UW technologies.
The Enrepreneurial Law Clinic is an opportunity for MBA students to partner with law students in advising early stage Northwest companies about legal and business structuring. This is a great chance to learn about the legal aspect of start-ups while gaining business consulting experience.
Stay tuned to hear more about the student experience participating in these activities as fall quarter comes to a close.
Tracy Gojdics, Director
Congratulations to the new TMMBA class! As the last offers of admission arrive we are busy preparing for the Welcome Reception and the December Orientation Immersion. The new class promises to be one full of diversity, enthusiasm, drive and passion. Plus, the class is comprised of some really nice folks that will be a joy to have in the program. In a couple of weeks I’ll publish class names and companies. Stay tuned…
Tina Bassir, Associate Director
TechFlash LIVE: Women in Tech Event
Wednesday, Oct 28 at 5:00 – 8:00 pm
W Hotel, Downtown Seattle
Mix and mingle with Seattle’s who’s who of women in the technology industry. Click to enter for a guest pass and join TMMBA as we celebrate Women in Tech.
TechFlash is a product of the Puget Sound Business Journal and TMMBA is proud to partner with TechFlash and PSBJ for this event to celebrate leadership in technology. For more information about this event, visit http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/event/9691.
Aaron Lykken, Manager – Academic Services & Technologies
I’m a tad bit behind on my posting, but nonetheless one of the biggest events recently has been the TMMBA Leadership Immersion weekend. In it’s second year, the Leadership Immersion places current TMMBA students into a intensive 3-day weekend focusing exclusively on Leadership at the workplace. The weekend uses an array of resources to give students the tools they need to succeed as current or future leaders in their respective industry. From readings, a leadership simulation, case studies, theoretical frameworks, and the analysis of organizational data, the weekend covers a lot of ground but allows the students to devote their absolute focus on this important subject matter for managers. Last year the students attended the weekend in their typical section (Monday or Wednesday), however this year we added a special twist by mixing the students across sections which enhanced networking opportunities, enhanced the bond between sections, and to add a new element to the leadership simulation and class discussions. The random groups then attended their weekend assignment during weekend 1 or weekend 2. Another twist was that classes were held on the Seattle campus which is a special treat for most of our students as the overwhelming majority of TMMBA class sessions occur at the Eastside Executive Center in Kirkland, WA.
Without a doubt the leadership immersion as a whole was a fantastic success. The instructor, Patrick Bettin, is widely known both at the Foster School of Business and in the private sector as an outstanding instructor and has received numerous awards in various Executive Programs at the UW. In fact, he was honored last year by both TMMBA sections (Monday & Wednesday) with the Foster School of Business’ Excellence in Teaching Award. During the days I attended, I saw the students extremely engaged and enjoying themselves as they reflected on what type of leader they currently are and what they need to do to become a better one.
Aaron Lykken, Manager – Academic Services & Technologies
While class was out of session during September the TMMBA program office made the most out of the empty office time to complete some facility improvement work. While most of them are relatively minor in scale, they all feed into a better student experience which pays huge dividends for our busy students. Some tweaks were made to increase comfort and others for maximizing the space we have, here are the highlights:
- More outlets in the dining hall so that power is never too far away for a hungry laptop battery
- Kitchenette added in place of a seldom used closet. This just became the most popular place to hang out, allows for a dedicated and organized area for coffee, microwave, utensils, etc.
- Beverages and ice-cream consolidated into the catering area which allowed greater spacing in the dining hall for meals, studying, and team meetings
- New conference room added in the back of the office. Just another study location option for teams seeking privacy.
- Lounge and phone added to the front of the office space. A big reception desk used to sit up front but we decided that the area would better serve the students by offering additional sitting space to hang out or study.
- Audio/Visual system added to the dining hall to accommodate guest speakers when speaking to larger groups.
- Updated projectors added to one of the classrooms to keep the technology up to date.
